Chapter 85: Nolan

“Do you have any idea who might be involved in something like this?” one officer asks Sawyer.

He looks at Bryn and then at Maddox with a question in his eyes. Bryn nods at him and leans further into Maddox, who has his arm wrapped around her.

“There’s a doctor who worked at the clinic here who has been acting weird around Bryn. He was having food and flowers delivered to the house. He sent food that he knows Bryn was allergic to and then we saw him when she was taken to the hospital. He made a few comments that didn’t sit well with us, but he was fired from here, so I wasn’t worried. Now this.” He points at the box on the counter.

“He also attacked Nolan.” Bryn adds.

The officer looks my way and does a perusal of my injuries. I don’t want to deal with all that shit again, but if it will help Bryn, I’ll happily tell them anything to make sure she’s safe. All my plans of not getting involved have gone up in smoke, anyway.

“I will look into that incident as well. The fact that physical violence has been involved with your encounters with him means we can do more to protect you from him. Like a restraining order.” The officer says, and I shake my head.

“A piece of paper that says he can’t come close to her? How is that going to help?” I ask him with a little too much venom in my voice.

“It will allow us to arrest him and hold him longer if he violates the order.” The officer says, as if that makes it better.

“But I won’t protect her if he disregards the order and hurts her.” Sawyer says.

The officer sighs. “No, it won’t, but it’s something. Even just to give you peace of mind. If he steps within the limits, you can call and we will have an officer come out. One foot and you can call.”

Bryn looks at me and I hate seeing how small and scared she looks. Her hand moves up to rest on her belly and my need to protect her increases by tenfold. That child is just as important as she is, and just like the others, it’s part of my job to protect them.

“We’ll take it, but I will be taking other precautions to protect her as well.” I say before I move closer to Bryn and step in front of her as if to protect her, even from the police.

The officer looks between us, and I see a question coming. “What exactly is your relationship?”

“Does that matter?” Maddox asks.

“It does because the only person this matter should be discussed with the victim.” The officer says sharply.

Maddox’s face grows hard, and he looks like he’s about to square up against the officer before I step in.

“I’m sorry, officer, but we’re all very protective of Bryn and a little on edge, as you can imagine.” I try to smile and act as nonthreatening as possible.

He takes a second to look my way, but when he does, he nods.

“As I said, anything to help Bryn, we are happy to accept.” I add.

“Good. I’ll have Miss- “

“Mrs. Beckett.” Sawyer corrects.

“Right. If Mrs. Beckett can come down to the station, we can get that process started.” The officer says, looking more than ready to be done with us.

I’m not the only one who notices his impatience if the way Maddox and Sawyer are glaring at him is any indication.

“Yes, thank you, officer.” Bryn says in a soft, subdued voice.

The sound makes me feel uneasy, so I move closer to her and take her hand that isn’t wrapped around Maddox’s waist. Her head turns in my direction and she looks stunned by the move. I give her a reassuring smile and a light pink blush blooms on her cheeks. When I look at Sawyer, he’s smiling like the cat who caught the canary. Idiot.

He isn’t the only one who’s noticed what I’ve done. The officer’s eyes have zeroed in on it as well. I bristle at the subtle disgust on his face and I’m glad Bryn is too distracted to notice. I’ve been told that this change in her relationship with Sawyer and Maddox hasn’t been easy for her. A lot of guilt settles around it and I won’t have anyone making her feel worse now that I’m here as well.

“We’ll bring her once she’s ready.” I say, trying to get the officer’s attention back to me.

It works. He looks at me and nods before turning and walking out. The other officers follow him and Sawyer closes the door behind them. Once he’s done, he walks over to Bryn and cups her face in his hands.

“How you doing, baby?” He asks her.

She reaches up and covers one of his hands with the one she had around Maddox. She hasn’t released mine yet and for some reason, that means something to me.

“I’m okay. I just don’t know why he won’t leave me alone. We met one time, and he’s acting like we’re a couple or something.” She says, shaking her head.

“Unfortunately, stalkers can be like that.” I say, drawing all their attention to me. “Some of them think that they’re closer to that person than they actually are. There are stalkers who have never even spoken to the person they watch but still create a whole life in their mind.”

“Did you study criminology while you studied medicine, too?” Sawyer asks.

I give him an unamused look that makes him smile.

“Do you think the restraining order will help?” Bryn asks me.

Without thinking, I reach out with my free hand and tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I don’t know, love, but we won’t let him come near you.”

She blinks wide, scared eyes at me, and it makes me want to kiss her and tell her everything will be okay. Except I don’t know if it will. Stalkers have known to become violent if they think the person they are obsessed with doesn’t appreciate their attention or even reciprocate it. As much as I hope it doesn’t come to that, I won’t be lax about watching over Bryn.

“Thank you.” She says to me and I finally give in to the urge I have been battling since we were alone in the room.

I lean in and brush my lips over hers. Just a small touch and then I pull away.

“Are you ready to go?” I ask her.

She silently nods and when I move toward the door, she lets me lead her with our still connected hand. I hear Sawyer say something behind us and then a grunt of pain that I suspect comes from Maddox hitting him. Sawyer just laughs and I shake my head. No doubt he’s bragging about his matchmaking skills. Although I would like to knock him down a peg, I’m glad he invited me in. Bryn’s beauty and sweetness is a gift to behold and touching her even the smallest about makes me feel more alive than I have in a long time.

Even though she seems to think her growing stomach is something that should turn me off, I think it makes her even more beautiful. She has that glow everyone is always talking about when it comes to pregnancy. Unless that’s just her, which is also likely.

Sawyer suggests we take his ego sized truck and I climb in the back seat with Bryn. I’m not ready to let her hand go just yet, and she doesn’t seem eager to either. When we’re inside, she ends up moving closer to me and resting her head on my shoulder. Our fingers are still interlocked and I look down at her smaller hand in mine and smile. Her hand fits perfectly in mine and she feels perfect snuggled up against me.

“Nolan?” she whispers.

“Hm?”

“Stay. Stay with me.” It isn’t a question exactly, but it isn’t a demand either.

Not that it would matter because I’ve already decided to stay with her and explore the strange relationship she will share with all of us. It’s strange in the fact that it’s different and I’ve done nothing quite this…extreme. If you can call it that.

“There’s nowhere I’d rather be love.” I tell her, and I mean every word.

She tilts her head back to look up at me, and I lean down to kiss her again. This time, it isn’t soft or quick. No, this time I let myself taste her and she opens her mouth just enough to let me explore even more of how sweet she is. She tastes like strawberries and I have to fight back the urge to pull her into my lap and take more, but one of the guys clears their throat and we break apart.

“Not that it isn’t fucking hot to see you guys making out back there, but I would rather not walk into a police station with a raging hard on.” Sawyer says.

“Sawyer!” Bryn screeches in offense.
We all break out laughing, and she crosses her arms in an adorable pout. “Men are pigs.”

I lean down and kiss her temple and pull her back against me. She sighs and melts against me.